restrict a form to only the person submitting

I built a form for contractors to enter the days worked, hours, tips, etc.., and the sheet calculates total pay, total hours, etc. Is there a way I can make the form so that when a contractor opens the form, they are only allowed to submit their info? Currently the name field is a dropdown listing all contractors, and anyone can select any name and submit. If I make it a text field where they enter their name, then they may accidentally misspell it or they could enter someone else's name and submit for another person. I thought about doing a separate form/sheet for each person, but I only get 10 sheets unless I upgrade plans. Thoughts?

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Accepted answers

Jen Lange

@cpholmes28, you can set the field default value in the form to the person for whom you're saving the particular version of the form.

So in the screenshot below, pretend that "RAID Status" was the name field. In the right panel, (bottom right) you can select a Default Value for that field in the form.

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Mark Cronk

Hi @cpholmes28 ,

Depending on how many people you have, you could create a form for each person. Enter the person's name as the default value in the form and hide the cell. Put the person's name in the form title so they can confirm use of the right form. Send each person the URL to their personal form or create a portal with links from the person's name or picture to their form.

Any usable ideas?

Mark

cpholmes28

I thought about that but can I have multiple forms report data submissions to the same sheet. Do I just create the sheet, the go to forms and keep creating new forms for each person?

Mark Cronk

Yes, just keep adding forms to your base sheet. Create the form you want and duplicate it. Edit the new for with the person's name in the title and as the default response in the name field.

I assume there is a limit to the number of forms you can have per sheet but I don't know what it is.

Good luck.

Mark

Neil Watson

Otherwise you can use the URL string functionality. That way you can use a single form and change the contractor name. It's not "fool proof" since the form user can change info, but at least you can avoid the wrong selection.

You could even hide the field so it completes and cannot be changed!

https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2478871-url-query-string-form-default-values?_ga=2.145495732.1415906821.1612133333-785583113.1609998720

Andrée Starå

Hi @cpholmes28

I hope you're well and safe!

To add to Mark's excellent advice/answer.

Another option could be to configure the form so that the submitter has to be logged in to Smartsheet. You can then add the Created By system column and see who submitted it.

Make sense?

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic day!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Jen Lange

Hi @cpholmes28.

I'm thrilled that you've received so many great suggestions from @Mark Cronk and @Andrée Starå . You really have some of the most talented and creative Smartsheet experts offering you solutions.

I have an alternative to using the form. This idea came to me in the middle of the night. Literally. I almost couldn't fall back to sleep and had to force myself not to get up and drop you this note. 😂

What if you used an automated workflow instead to collect this data?

If you create rows for your contractors by day or week (depending on the frequency of submission), you could create a "Request an Update" workflow that is sent directly to the contact and restricts the columns and message sent if you desire.

I haven't created a sample, but this is an illustration of the workflow definition fields.

You could probably set up another workflow to create new rows for the next submission as a conditional action to the above. I'd have to play this idea a bit to ensure it would work.

Let me know if this seems like a viable option for you.

-Jen

cpholmes28

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/290241#Comment_290241

I was curious about the option to make submitter login to submit, would this mean they would have to be a paid user, or can they be a free user with this option. Also, if I forced them to log in, and left the multi select in place for the contractor names, couldn't they still select a different name and submit for someone else, or is there a way to make it so when a user logs in, they only see their name in the dropdown? I think that creating separate forms for each person is the way to go though.

Andrée Starå

@cpholmes28

No, they don't need to have a license, and you could probably remove the multi-select because you'll see who submitted anyway.

Make sense?

cpholmes28

So I created a separate form for each contractor, however for the Name field which is a single dropdown, when I enter the name of the contractor in each form, and save it replaces all the name fields with the last name I put in. I cannot get different names to save in each form for that field.

cpholmes28

After further testing, it seems that when I duplicate a form, the fields are all linked to the other forms for that sheet or something, because, if I change the NAME field from dropdown to Text on one form, it changes it for all forms. If I make it a single select drop down, and enter a name for the value, when I go to another form, it also has that same name as the value. If I change it, it changes it for all forms. What is going on?

Andrée Starå

@cpholmes28

It's because you're changing the Sheet Column but in the form.

You can change what's showed as the name and still keep the column name in the sheet.

Make sense?

cpholmes28

I do not understand what you mean by changing the sheet column but in the form.

Jen Lange

@cpholmes28, you can set the field default value in the form to the person for whom you're saving the particular version of the form.

So in the screenshot below, pretend that "RAID Status" was the name field. In the right panel, (bottom right) you can select a Default Value for that field in the form.

Andrée Starå

@cpholmes28

Have a look here.

https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2481826-edit-or-remove-fields-in-a-form

Make sense?

cpholmes28

That worked great! I am good now, except somehow in the process of duplicating my forms to create on for each contractor, I lost all my conditional logic, so I guess I need to go back into them and redo it for each form. Really strange, that it had always been there, and not it is gone for all forms. One of them had 7 rules for one field, so it is going to take me some time, but at least I know how to do it correctly now.

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